Get air quality alerts on your phone with new BC service

Photo: Contributed

Residents of the Okanagan's dust capital may be happy to hear they can now get air quality alerts sent directly to their cellphones.

Vernon typically sees dozens of days of poor air quality in the spring, unlike other cities in the region, partly due to its topography trapping road dust in the sky until wind or rain can clear it out.

The province's air quality alert subscription service was expanded Friday beyond email notifications to allow people to receive real-time air quality advisories and smoky skies bulletins by text.

"Whether for COVID-19-related reasons, for wildfire smoke information, or for pure curiosity, you can now reach no further than your pocket to find out about the air quality around you," said Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy George Heyman. "This subscription service is a helpful tool for all British Columbians, particularly for those with pre-existing or chronic health conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, those concerned about the health of their infants or small children, or those just looking to spend some time being active outside."

People can sign up for the mobile service on the Government of British Columbia's air quality website to automatically receive air quality advisories and smoky skies bulletins, through text messages, email notifications or both.

There are currently 76 community-specific sites, including Vernon's – on the roof of the Okanagan Science Centre – that provide hourly data to a central database.

Typical pollutant sources include vehicle emissions, industrial emissions, open burning, residential wood burning and road dust, along with wildfire smoke.